Knitting machine



April 25, 1939.

4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 26, 1,930

jme/Mw April 25, 1939. N. LEvIN KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 195o 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 1950 4 SVhees-Shee'l'l 3 ZZ Q.

April 25; 1939. N. LEvlN 2,156,185

KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Apr. 25, Y193,9

PATENT OFFICE KNITTING 4MAGHINE l Nathan Levin, Philadelphia, Pa., signor to n.

Brinton Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application April 26,1930, serial Nn. 447,728

16 Claims.

My said invention relates to a knitted fabric and a machine for making the same. object of the invention to provide an improved method and machine for ornamenting a knitted fabric, said fabric itself also having elements of novelty and being claimed in application 562,395

` led Sept. 11, 1931. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved pattern yarn wrapping `linger for use in knitting machines, together with novel .supporting and operating means therefor. l

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is a plan of a piece of rib knitted fabric, greatly enlarged to illustrate `the loop construction,

Fig. 2, is asimilar view of a piece of plain knitted fabric,

Fig. 3, an elevation on a relatively small scale, illustrating patterns that may be formed by the use of my invention.

Fig. 4, a partial vertical section of my improved machine.

Fig. 5, a fragmentary diagrammatic section i1- ulstrating the operation of certain parts shown in Figs. 6 and 7, fragmentary views similar to aY part of Fig. 4 but showing certain elements in tion, Y

Fig. 8, a perspective of a pattern yarn wrapping finger, and i.

Fig. 9, a diagram illustrating the relative position and operation of certain parts of my lmproved machine.

Referring to Fig. 1, this illustrates a vribbed fabric having a foundation fabric formed of a body yarn or yarns IIJ, here indicated as being a Vlwhite yarn. This body fabric is knitted into courses I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 'I forming outside rib 'Wales such as at a and c and inside rib, wales such as at b and d. In certain wales, such as thev wales a and c here shown, there are combined With the body yarn other yarns which are Wrapped about s elected needles in the knitting.

They are herein referred to for convenience as pattern yarns or Wale-threads, each thread being here shown as individual to a needle and preferalthough they may be incorporated in the fabric without being actually wrapped about a needle, and they may differ in color, weight or quality from the body yarn or yarns and from each other.

i For convenience of illustration the pattern yarn Itis anv different positions which they assume 1n opera-A ably wrapped about that needle at desired times,

II is here indicated as being blue, the pattern yarn I2 as being brown, the pattern yarn I3 as being brown and the pattern yarn yI4 as being green, but it will be understood that this is merely for illustration, as these yarns may all be of the same color or each of a different color so as vto show as many as four colors in two wales, not counting the wales in which the body yarn only may be formed into loops.

It will be seen from the drawings that yarn II 10 floats past course I, is knitted in with the body yarn in courses 2 and 3, floats past courses 4 and 5 at the rear of the wale and is knitted in again in courses 6 and 1. Yarn I2 oats past courses I, 2 and 3, is knitted in at courses 4 and 5 and 15 floats past courses Ii and l. The pattern yarns are formed into the usual wrap stitch where not` floated and one knits while the other floats or vice versa except where both float as in course I.

Yarns I3 and I4 in wale c are similarly entered 20 and wrapped so as to form wrap stitches as desired except in courses I,-4 and I where both float so as to show the foundation fabric III. It will be seen that each yarnmay differ from the other in color or any three'may be alike while one differs from them or any two may match each other and that any one may come to the surface at any course to form designs and colors thereby producing true multi-colored designs within thesame Wale in addition to multi-colored designs formed by changing colors in adjacent wales, whereas the background will ordinarily be of still another color.

Fig. 2 illustrates a. plain fabric with foundation made from a yarn I5, this ligure showing courses numbered from I to l and wales a, b, c, and d, the last Wale being without ornament in the part shown. A pattern yarn I6 in wale a is illustrated as being blue while pattern yarn Il is green. In wale b pattern yarn/'I8 is blue and yarn I9 40 isbrown. Inwale c pattern yarn 20 is green and yarn 2| is brown and these yarns are shown as floated individually or in pairs, thereby illustrating the further range of color combinations in a single Wale and in a, plurality of wales. 'I'he 45 principles of fabric formation are the same in both cases except that one foundation is plain and the other is ribbed.

Some of the possibilities in the way of color combinations are lfurther illustrated in Fig. 3.

Here are shown three small diamonds, each with a smaller diamond in the center, and also a larger diamond shaped ligure composed of four juxtaposed diamonds. In addition to the background or foundation color, which may be as desired, the

center of diamond 22 is shown as being red, as

.is also the center of diamond 24 and the outer part of diamond 23. The outer part of each diamond 22 and 24 may correspond to the center of diamond 23 and is here'illustrated as being blue. These figures are made as described by means of wrap yarns of different colors manipulated as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, there being two different colors in the same Wale whether the fabric is plain r ribbed. y Again in the large diamond indicated at 21, the diamondshaped side elements 28 may be of one color while the upper and lower diamond shaped elements 2S may be of another color, regardless of whether 'the same at desired times.

the fabric is plain or ribbed and obviously a great variety of complicated color arrangements may thus be had which were never before possible y for the reason that a single Wale was heretofore confined to a single color in machine-knittedl inder 30 having a set of needles 3| supported or carried thereby in conventional grooves or otherwise, the needles being here shown as combined with jacks 32 adapted to be raised to different heights by means of jack cams 33 and 34, whereby the needles are brought into the`field of operation of needle cams includingstitch cams indicated at 35 and a lowering cam indicated at 36. Normally the jack cam will raise the needles at each relative rotation of the needle cylinder and the cam set comprising jack cams and needle cams, substantially as in Patent 1,722,989 to Ames, and for controlling the operation of the jacks for this purpose I have shown diagrammatically trick-wheels 31 and 38 which may be similar in structure and operation to those shown in said Ames patent, Aone trickwheel being located ahead of each of the respective jack cams 33 and 34 and ahead of cams 35 and 36 as shown in Fig. 9.

The yarn guide indicated at 39 normally supplies a main yarn to the needles and it will be understood that more than one main yarn guide may be provided in ways known in the art, with means for changing yarns for horizontal striping or for other reasons in the course of manufacture of a knitted fabric. A.For supplying pattern yarns to thev needles selectively' and for wrapping such yarns about the needles I have provided ,yarn fingers 40 held in slots in a bed 4| by means of spring rings 42', this bed being here coaxial with the needle cylinder and held against rotary movement relative thereto, so that any finger is approximately directly behind the needle with which it individually coacts and, in

effect, is co-planar therewith. Preferably there is a yarn finger 40 for each needle 3|, though any desirable number of yarn fingers may be utilized according to'desired pattern and positions of patterns. 'I'hese yarn fingers are individual to their needles, i. e., each one feeds wrapping yarn to a single needle and wraps it around Assuming that the needle cylinder is stationary and that the needle cams revolve about the same, the finger bed 4| will also be stationary and the fingers `will be.

moved radially across the needle circle by means of a set of revolving cams comprising finger-A projecting cams 42 and 43 for moving the vlower ends of the iingers outward and linger-retract- A that cam 43 will move a finger outward only to the position indicated in Fig. 6 whereas cam 42 will move it out to the position indicated in Fig. 7 but each of the cams 44 and 45 will move each finger all the way in to the position indicated in Fig. 4. Each finger is provided between its ends with a semicircular lug 46 resting in a like recess in bed 4| and providing a rocking bearing for the finger, while also holding it against up or down movement along the bed. Further down each finger is provided with 'a lug 41 hav-`v ing perforations or eyelets of any conventional or desirable form for guiding independently two yarns 48 and 49 and at its lower end each finger has two lugs 50 andl 5|, also perforated for guiding the respective pattern yarns independently the lowermost perforation in each projection forming a thread-outlet. c

It will be noted that the yarn fingers, in the embodiment of the invention here illustrated, are moved in and out at each relative rotation of the cylinder and needle cams for making a course of stitches. In Fig. 9, 'whichshows a diagrammatic layout of the cams it will be seen that the cams 42 and 44 at position A cooperate with the yarn lingers to wrap yarn 49 about such needles as are raised selectively by the actionA of the selecting means which includes the trickwheel 31, the jack cam 33 andjacks 32. As shown in Fig. 7 the needles which are raised at this time are raised only to the level--x whereby the projection can lay its yarn about the coacting needle. The yarn fingers having only a radial' movement are peculiarly formed to cause them to lay the yarn about raised needles. For this purpose the yarn fingers are fiat and thin and are made of flexible sheet steel or the like. Each of l of the same projection will strike the needle and Y cam itself to the other sideso as to bend the finger and permit the projection (in this case projection 5|) to pass the needle, thereby laying the wrapping yarn around theneedle, as-will be clear on consideration oi' Fig. 5.

After the needles pass station A a cam 36 will .strike the butt of any raised needle and will lower the needle and its jack to the normal position illustrated in Fig. 4. Thereafter the trlckwheel 38, jack cam 34 and jacks 32 will raise 4needles selectively to the position indicated in Fig. 6 or to the level of line 1/--y. Whereas at position A the yarn fingers 40 were moved by camv 42 to the extreme outward position illustrated in Fig. 7, they will now be moved by cam 43 outward only to the position indicated in Fig. 6 so that the yarn 48 will be laid about needles raised to the position indicated in Fig. 6, the projection 5ly camming itself past the needle atopposite sides thereof in its inward andoutward movements as does projection 5| for the'needle in-Flg. 7. Ii' the needles are left at the normal height of Fig. 4 neither of the projections 50' and 5| will strike the needle but the finger will merely oscillate radially and the yarns will not be wrapped around the needle but will float at the back `of the fabric as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

After the needles pass the position B in Fig. 9,

corresponding to Fig. 6, they will be acted on by stitch cams 35 (and any other conventional or desirable'cams or other elements) to form the bod.v fabric.

It will be evident from the foregoing that any .needle can be elevated at either position A or B so as to have the yarn 48 wrapped around it at position A or yarn 49 at position B, or the needle may Anot be elevated at either of these points so that the pattern yarns will float at the back of the stitch of main yarn formed by that needle in the particular course. It may be noted also that at the time when the needle is raised to its highest level to be wrapped the wrap-yarn finger receives its smallest throw whereas at the lower level of Fig. '7 the finger receives its greatest throw. In the position of Fig. 6 the longer projection 5I never passes out beyondthe'needle circle. In the position of Fig. 7 only the projection 5I contacts with theneedle as the-projection 50 is above the level of the upper end of the needle. Hence only oney projection contacts with a needle in any position of the parts. Although the projection 50 passes out beyond the needle in Fig. 7 there is no contactbetween the hook of the needle and the projection 50 and therefore the yarn 48 simply passes outward and backward between two needles but the yarn 49 passes out between two of them and back around one of them. The action of parts and the method of forming. designs is the same in both plain and rib machines, since the dial does not interfere with the method of wrapping as herein described although the method of wrapping may affect the control means necessary for governing the position of parts on the dial, as for making welts, etc.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made in the devices shown in the drawings and described in the speciiication and therefore I do not limit myself to what is so shown and described, nor in any respect except as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a, knitting machine, a row of independent needles, means for knitting a body fabric on the needles, means for elevating needles selectively to different heights at different times in the formation of a course of stitches, and means governed by the height to which a needle is elevated for wrapping different pattern yarns about the same elevated/needle at such different times.

2. In a knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a set of needles therein, needle cams rotating re1- atively to the needle cylinder, means for elevating needles selectively, yarn-wrapping fingers ,I individual to needles of said set said fingers each controlling a plurality of pattern yarns, and means for moving said fingers to wrap one only 'of the pattern yarns controlled by a linger about an elevated needle. y

3. In a knitting machine, a needle cylinder, needles therein, needle cams rotating relatively to said cylinder, means for isolating needles selectively, and means for wrapping any one of a plurality of pattern yarns about an isolated needle including yam-wrapping fingers each n controlling a plurality of pattern yarns.

4. In a knitting machine, a needle cylinder, needles therein, needle cams rotating relatively to .said cylinder, means for elevating needles selectivelyyyarmwrapping fingers each controlling a plurality of pattern yarns and mounted to move radially of the cylinder across the needle circle, a plurality of eyes on individual fingers for guiding said plurality of yarns, and means for moving a iinger to wrap its yarns selectively about the same needle.

5. In a knitting machine, a needle cylinder, needles therein, needle clams rotating relatively to said cylinder, means for elevating needles selectively, exible yarn-wrapping lingers movable across the needle circle, each finger being individual to a needle, said lingers each having a plurality of iiat projections lying in planes inclined with reference to their radial movement, whereby such projections can strike a needle so as to pass at opposite sides of thesame in their inward and outward strokes respectively, and cams operable to move said fingers across the needle circle in each relative rotation of said needle cylinder and needle cams. i

6. In a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a set of needles therein, needle cams, a slotted bed coaxial with the needle cylinder, yarn wrapping lingers in the slots of said bed each individual to a needle and each having means for guiding a plurality of yarns, needle-raising jacks, a plurality of jack cams differing [in height, means coacting with said jacks and jack cams for raising needles selectively to dliierent heights,

vated according to the height of the needle and the throw of the yarn-Wrapping finger.

7. In a circular knitting machinaa needle cylinder,a set of needles therein, needle cams, a slotted bed coaxial with the tneedle cylinder, yarn wrapping lingers in the slots of said bed each individual to a needle and eachl having means for guiding a plurality of yarns, needle-raising jacks, a plurality of jack cams diiering in height, means coacting with said jacks and jack cams for raising needles to different heights, and means for causing the fingers to wrap diierent yarns about needles raised to different heights.

8. In a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, a set of needles therein, means for selectively eleyating needles to various heights including needle cams, a slotted bed adjacent to the needle cylinder, yarn wrapping fingers in the slots of said bed each individual to a needle and means for moving said fingers to different extents transversely of the needle circle andfor wrapping different yarns about a needle, the ex- 'tent of movement of a yarn-wrapping finger and the'extent of elevation of a needle determining which yarn is wrapped about the needle.

9. In a knitting machine, a circle o1' independent needles, means for knitting a body fabric on the needles, means for elevating needles selectively to different heights at different times `in the formation of a course of stitches, means for wrapping different pattern yarns about the same elevated vneedle at such diiIerent times, said means comprising yarn-wrapping ngers each guiding a plurality of yarns, and means 'for moving said fingers to varying distances across the needle row to determine the yarn tobe wrapped about a needle. A

10. Ina knitting machine, arow of independ- "ent needles, means for knitting a body fabric. on

means to guide a plurality of yarns. means for `moving the ngers to a predetermined extents at' bed; and a plurality of yarn-wrapping fingersA mounted thereon for rocking movement, one or more of said lingers having radially spaced projections of different length with thread-outlet means on each projection, the outlet means on the one projection being at a diierent distance than the other from the axis of theflnger.

12. In a knitting machine, a series of independent needles, a needle wrapping nger pivotaily supported at a point approximately in alinement with the shank of an operatively related needle, means for moving said fingers across the needle row, at least two projections of different length on said finger each angularly oil'set relatively to its plane of movement across the needlerow,

` yarn-guiding means on adjacent to the ends of v the respective projections for feeding separate yarns such means being positioned at different points in the length of the nger so asto wrap different yarns about a needle at different levels according to the length of said projections, and means for bringing aneedle and a finger into operative relation to wrap the yarns selectively about a needle.

13. In a circular independent needle knitting machine, means for raising needles selectively to different heights, a yarn wrapping nger having means for feeding a plurality of yarns at different 'heights with respectlto the needles, and means for moving said linger so as to wrap different yarns about a needle according to its elevation.-

14. The method of applying, to two substantially adjacent needles, and for knitting in the same row gof stitches, Wale-threads in addition to a continuous ground-thread or ground-threads, which consists in displacing said needles lengthwise with respect to each other, and placing a Wale-thread on each of said two needles while said twoneedles are displaced with respect to each other, the extent of elevation of a needle determining which yarn is wrapped about a needle.

15. In a knitting machine, a series of independent needles, means for reciprocating said needles individually, means for supplying a body yarn to all the needles, and means for supplying wale threads to two substantially adjacent needles while said needles are longitudinally displaced with respect'to each other, the extent of elevation of a needle determining which yarn is wrapped `about a needle.

16. In a knitting machine, an'oscillatory yarn wrapping linger, and eyelets on the finger at different elevations each adapted to wrap its yarn about a needle elevated correspondingly.

NATHAN LEVIN. 

